A Secret Untold

The Other World

Land of Rust and Ruin

Paradise Lost

Eventually, all living things die. Some fade away never to be heard from again in either world, their fates a mystery even to the most wizened Loa. Some cling to life so hard they do not leave the world, trapped in a state of Limbo among the living, growing increasingly angry and wild.

The rest go here. This is the Other World. The oldest tales of death tell of a place beyond life, where life continues forever. Aaru, the Happy Hunting Ground, Elysium, Valhalla and Nifelheim. Modifications on similar themes, and perhaps at some point this was true.

Now, however, the truth has become somewhat more bleak. The Dead live amongst ruined places robbed of all true life, and have no memory of kinder times or simpler lives. They fight for meager things to fill the void of their hunger, of their thirst, of their passions, as if they were still alive.

Giants Among the Dead

The Loa, however, know of the line that has been crossed. So too, do the Dead on an instinctive level. A Loa brings Life into the Other World, carries it in their pockets, in their body, in their heart. Here, the Loa’s magic isn’t seen as an aberration, but as a gift divine or infernal.

Loa can exist, and many have existed, as Gods in the Other World. Their magic may be freely used, without fear of reprisal, and for a few moments of Life, they can have anything, and anyone, they desire. There are dangers, however, in choosing this path.

The Loa are dead, though not Dead. They straddle the line between the worlds, but they are ever tipping towards the Other World. Choosing it over the world of the Living will ultimately tip them wholly into the number of the Dead, and they won’t even known until it is too late.

Breaking Through to the Other Side

Which brings us to entering the Other World to begin with. Though not impossible, it is difficult to get lost in a place you cannot find.

The Loa are free creatures, but only so long as they stay in and around the Living. As they venture further from that beacon of light and Life, the world decays away and the Other World begins. This is the easiest means for a Loa to enter the Other World; take too long of a walk.

There are places in the city, too. Places particularly linked with the Other World. Abandoned buildings that have housed many suicides or murder victims. The above-ground cemeteries that litter the cityscape. These are places where the veil between worlds has worn especially thin, threatening to split at any moment.

The longer the Loa stay in the Other World, the harder it is to find their way back to the Living. Usually resulting in an increasingly difficult wager on a Cunning risk, based on the amount of time spent in the Other World.